“Big fight?”
“No!” Jack didn’t want anyone drawing that conclusion, either. He hadn’t considered that someone might assume he and Josie had fought.
Emmett put a hand on his shoulder. “The way I figure it, these are the problems you were sent out there to fix, so go apologize for whatever fool thing you did.”
“But I didn’t—” Jack caught himself and started over. Maybe this perception of a fight could work to his advantage. “You’re right, Emmett. I need to go apologize.”
“Glad to hear you say it, son. You have a tendency to be a tad stubborn when people cross you.”
Jack started to protest.
“Like your daddy.” Emmett squeezed Jack’s shoulder. “But being stubborn isn’t all bad. At least you stick with whatever you set out to do. Anyway, you’d best get a move on before anybody notices Josie is MIA. Sarah would have a hissy fit.”
“Right.” Jack grabbed Josie’s hat and mounted Bandit. Accepting Destiny’s reins from Emmett, he tied them to his saddle horn. “Thanks for keeping this to yourself, Emmett.”
“It’s what I’d want someone to do for me. Now, git.”
Jack took off at a fast trot with Destiny prancing along beside him as if pleased with his little caper. Jack glared at him. “Next time, you mangy piece of crow bait, I’ll be the one to tie you to a tree, and trust me, there will be no more getting loose. We’re not playing this game anymore.”
As Jack neared the line of trees, he wondered what time it was, and whether Josie would be interested in spreading out that blanket again. But when he arrived at the spot where he’d left her, he realized that wouldn’t be happening. She was sitting on a fallen log with none other than his brother Gabe.
Finicky stood nearby munching on a few tufts of grass. Jack noted that the horse was ground-tied and was staying put, as he’d been trained to do, as all the Last Chance horses had been trained to do, with the glaring exception of Destiny.
“Hey, bro.” Gabe glanced up when Jack rode into the small clearing. “I was scouting out the wedding location when I spotted Destiny heading for the barn. I decided to follow the trail backward and make sure Josie was okay.”
“Thanks.” Jack was irritated by Gabe’s lack of confidence in his ability to take care of Josie, but mentioning it now wouldn’t be of any help.
He dismounted and dropped the reins. If Bandit stayed put, Destiny would have to do the same. Too bad Jack hadn’t thought to hook them together in the first place. If he had, he and Josie might still be naked on that blanket.
Speaking of that blanket, where was it? Josie had been busy, apparently, because she’d smoothed her clothes, re-braided her hair, and done something mysterious with the blanket, thank God. One look at the blanket and Gabe would have known everything. Blankets out in the woods were like code for a sexual encounter.
“I was afraid you two had some big fight when I saw Destiny going back riderless,” Gabe said. “But Josie tells me you were both looking for one of her contacts and didn’t notice when Destiny left.” Gabe didn’t look entirely convinced, though.
Contacts? Josie didn’t wear contacts. If that wasn’t the biggest whopper Jack had ever heard, but he played along. “Yeah, that’s what happened, all right.”
“Did you find it?” Gabe asked.
Josie said yes at the same time Jack said no.
“I found it right after you left, Jack.” She gave him a look that distinctly told him to shut the hell up before he ruined her perfectly good story.
Jack was impressed. For someone who claimed to be bad at making up stories, Josie was doing okay.
“I guess all’s well that ends well, then.” Gabe stood and walked over to Finicky. “Other than a lost contact, how are the lessons going?”
Jack had sense enough to let Josie answer, which might have been the smartest thing he’d done recently.
“Pretty soon I’ll ride well enough to make it through the wedding,” she said. “But I’ve discovered I want to learn how to ride better than that. I’m lucky Jack’s willing to teach me, and for free, too. That’s real neighborly of him.”
Jack thought that the neighborly part might be laying it on a bit thick and he shot a warning glance at Josie.
She just smiled.
Gabe, however, still looked suspicious. “I’d better not hear that he’s causing you any trouble, Josie. Maybe you lost a contact and maybe you didn’t, but Jack can be a stubborn guy, as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you.”
“No, you don’t.” She continued to smile.
Jack was getting a little sick of everyone calling him stubborn. He’d agreed to the riding lessons, hadn’t he? He’d given up on his original plan to keep those lessons strictly separated from his sexual needs, too. That’s what kind of a flexible person he was.
Gabe mounted up and gathered his reins in preparation for leaving. And it was about time, as far as Jack was concerned.
“I’ll mosey on and let you get back to the lesson, then.” Gabe touched the brim of his hat in salute to Josie and rode away through the trees.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue!” Josie called after him.
“No problem!”
“Interfering son-of-a-gun,” Jack muttered.
“He’s just trying to help.”
“He’s just trying to check up on me and make sure I’m not making your life miserable.”
Josie came over and wound her arms around his neck, bringing with her the scent of peach schnapps. “You’re not.”
“Good to hear.” He filled his arms with warm, soft, willing woman. “By the way, what the heck did you do with the blanket?”
“Buried it under some pine branches, just in case someone came along.”
“Quick thinking, because as it turns out, someone did. My nosy brother.”
“He’s worried about the wedding, Jack.” She massaged the back of his neck. “You can’t blame him for that. Morgan wants it to go off without a hitch, and yet she also wants me to be a co-maid of honor and you to be a co-best man. Gabe knows that could be problematic.”
Jack closed his eyes and savored her touch. “It won’t be.” He wanted to kiss her, but he also knew they were running out of time, thanks to Destiny’s little caper. He sighed. “We didn’t have nearly enough time today.”
Josie continued to massage the back of his neck. “There’s always tomorrow.”
He felt the kinks from ten months of grinding responsibility ease a little. “I like knowing I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Ditto.”
He opened his eyes. “Let’s go get the blanket.”
“We don’t have time to—”
“I know that.” He gave her a swift, hard kiss and released her. “But I need to put the blanket back in my saddle bag. We can’t go forgetting that it’s here and let somebody else stumble on it. That would be a red flag, for sure.”
“It’s over there, behind that big pine.” Josie pointed to a spot at the edge of the small clearing.
Jack walked behind the tree and unearthed the blanket from under the pine branches scattered randomly over it. “Good job.” He brushed the pine needles off. “And that story about the contacts was great. How did you happen to think of that?”